Vehicles have long utilized rear bumpers to protect the vehicles from rear collisions with other vehicles. The rear bumpers are typically designed to withstand a 2.5 miles-per-hour (MPH) collision with a like-sized vehicle with no structural damage to the vehicle. However, if a first vehicle is impacted by a second vehicle that has a greater weight than the first vehicle, the rear bumper of the first vehicle may not prevent structural damage to the first vehicle and/or injuries to the occupants of the first vehicle. Also, if the first vehicle is impacted by a second vehicle traveling faster than 2.5 MPH, the rear bumper of the first vehicle may not be able to prevent structural damage to the first vehicle and/or injuries to the occupants of the first vehicle. Also, the rear bumper of the first vehicle may not be able to decelerate the second vehicle at less than 0.25 G's which may be extremely uncomfortable to the occupants of the first and second vehicles.
The inventors herein have recognized a need for a vehicular collision protection device that minimizes and/or eliminates the above-mentioned deficiencies.